Sunny was tried for murder and unjustly sentenced to death in Florida, USA in 1976. With no cells on the women's death row at the prison where she was held, Sunny was kept in solitary confinement for 5 years before her death sentence was commuted to a prison term. She then spent a further 12 years there, teaching yoga. With the help of pro bono lawyers and friends, Sunny's sentence was overturned in 1992 and she was released.

Peter Pringle was prosecuted, tried and wrongfully convicted of murder and robbery by a Special Criminal Court in Dublin, Ireland in 1980. He was sentenced to death and 15 years imprisonment. In 1981, his death sentence was commuted to 40 years' imprisonment without parole. He studied law and was able to prepare his case under the Irish Constitution. He conducted his own defence in the High Court in Dublin in January 1992. He was released from prison in 1994.

Sunny and Peter have dedicated themselves to healing, peace and reconciliation following their respective releases. They met in 1998, married in 2011 and together founded The Sunny Center in Ireland, a shelter dedicated specifically to people convicted of crimes they did not commit and who have spent time on death row.

The death penalty and torture are closely linked. The practice of the death penalty can be likened to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, whether it be the methods of execution, the conditions of incarceration or the death row syndrome, which is akin to psychological torture for both the condemned and their families. Jesse Tafero, sentenced to death in the same case as Sunny Jacobs, was electrocuted in horrific circumstances: his face caught fire and he was pronounced dead only after 3 attempts and 7 minutes. Peter Pringle was under constant surveillance by guards who talked openly about the day of his execution, the bonus they hoped to receive, the fact that they would be expected to pull his legs to make sure his neck broke. According to Peter, in the face of the horror of the death penalty even for the jailers, "for their own protection, they treat you like an animal, a nobody".

In such conditions of incarceration, which combine extreme isolation, deprivation of physical and intellectual activities, poor personal hygiene and limited or non-existent access to health care, a majority of death row prisoners in the United States develop chronic physical (diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma) and psychological disorders (depression, suicidal intentions, self-mutilation, mental illness, etc.)